NYTIMES/ Germany, acting as Europe's defacto euro protector, is telling the region's heavily indebted nations that they must drastically cut down deficits. Some call it a “cult of austerity” that could bring about deflation and actually bring down governments. French economics professor Jean-Paul Fitoussi describes it as"...it's self-defeating because if you have austerity and deflation in Greece, Portugal and Spain, then the European economy will not recover; firms will fail and jeopardize the banks.”
